The
Ducks didn’t give up much for Kesler either. They traded Nick Bonino, who played on their third line most
of last season and Luca Sbisa who has yet to live up to his
full potential. Adding Kesler gives them a bonafide one-two punch down the
middle with Ryan Getzlaf, who is entering his 10th NHL season.

ADDITIONS

Anaheim finished first in the
Western Conference last season, just one-point away from the Bruins for the
President’s Trophy. In addition to Kesler, the Ducks took a flier on former
two-time 50-goal scorer Dany Heatley, signing
him to a one-year, $1 million contract. They also signed Clayton Stoner, 29, who
joins a young blue line who has three regulars under 24-years-old (Sami Vatanen, 23 / Cam Fowler, 22 / Hampus Lindholm, 20).

They have a lot of fire power
up front, but for the first time in nine seasons they will not have Teemu Selanne, who retired this offseason. Getzlaf, and Corey Perry finished second and fifth in NHL
scoring last season. Getzlaf had 87 points and was fifth in assists with 56,
while Perry racked up 82 points and was second in scoring with 43 goals. It is
safe to assume each of them to play at a point-per-game pace in 2014-15.

The Ducks let Jonas Hiller
walk in free agency in July and enter the season with an extremely young, but
capable goaltending duo. Frederik Andersen, 24, was
20-5-0 with a 2.29 GAA and .923 SV% in his rookie season. John Gibson, 20, won all three of his regular
season starts with a 1.33 GAA and .954 SV%. He also made four postseason
starts, posting a 2-2 record with a 2.69 GAA and .919 SV%. Should either of the
young netminders falter, they picked-up veteran Jason LaBarbera to
fill-in.

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